Authors: May R. Berenbaum, M. Berenbaum
ISBN-13: 9780201408249, ISBN-10: 0201408244
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Basic Books
Date Published: June 1996
Edition: (Non-applicable)
May Berenbaum is professor of entomology at the University of Illinois. She’s the author of 99 Gnats, Nits and Nibblers and More Maggots, Mites, and Munchers.
An introduction to insect physiology, genetics and behaviour which looks at the interaction between humans and insects, and explores both the positive and negative aspects of the relationship.
Insects play such an integral role in the efficient functioning of nature that it is impossible to envision the world without them. Yet we attempt to keep as far away from most insects as possible and are vaguely embarrassed as well as sometimes discomforted when they come too close. Berenbaum, head of the Entomology Dept. at the U. of Illinois, writes with wit and humor about insects, noting the harmful aspects of our interactions with them as well as the obvious benefits we derive from such creatures as honeybees and silkworms, and including the hidden benefits, probably the most important of which is the pollination of plants. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Acknowledgments | ||
Preface | ||
Ch. 1 | Classification and Nomenclature ("A Rose-chafer by any Other Name...") | 1 |
Ch. 2 | Physiology | 12 |
Ch. 3 | Behavior | 38 |
Ch. 4 | Social Lives | 59 |
Ch. 5 | Vegetarian Lifestyles | 99 |
Ch. 6 | Eating Insects | 151 |
Ch. 7 | Parasites and Hosts | 191 |
Ch. 8 | Odd Appetites and Out-of-the-Way Places | 240 |
Ch. 9 | Insects and People | 274 |
Ch. 10 | Appreciating Insects | 315 |
Ch. 11 | Equal Time (The Insect Perspective) | 344 |
Appendix | 351 | |
Index | 363 |